Codes and Standards: DOE Issues a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) for Evaluating Minimum Efficiency Requirements Gas Instantaneous Water Heaters – Comments Due August 22nd, 2024. & State Codes Activity Update

DOE Issues a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) for Evaluating Minimum Efficiency Requirements Gas Instantaneous Water Heaters – Comments Due August 22nd, 2024.

Back on July 28, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (‘‘DOE’’) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (‘‘NOPR’’), in which DOE proposed amended energy conservation standards for consumer water heaters (‘‘July 2023 NOPR’’). That DOE proposal required that for the most popular sizes for gas instantaneous water heaters, less than 2 gallon and greater than 50,000 Btu/hour, an efficiency level that requires condensing technology. That level would eliminate the manufacturing of any instantaneous gas water heaters that are non-condensing types and that can be common vented with other non-condensing gas appliances such as gas furnaces. However in its May 6, 2024 Final Rule , DOE did not finalize a requirement for condensing only technology for gas instantaneous water heaters (giwh) by maintaining the current non-condensing minimum efficiency requirement.  For gas-fired instantaneous water heaters, DOE indicated that it was not finalizing standards in the May 2024 final rule, as it continued to consider comments submitted in response to earlier rulemaking stages before finalizing a decision on amended standards. On Tuesday, July 23rd, DOE issued a Federal Register notice of data availability (NODA) pertaining to energy conservation standards for consumer water heaters, specifically gas-fired instantaneous water heaters.  In this NODA, DOE is updating portions of its analysis for gas instantaneous water heaters. DOE requests comments, data, and information regarding the updated analysis and will accept comments, data, and information regarding this NODA no later than August 22, 2024. In a preliminary review of the NODA, it appears that DOE is continuing to support a condensing only minimum efficiency requirement for giwh’s based on its analysis that includes condensing technology as an improvement in each of its trial stages for improving their efficiency.  AGA BECS staff is still reviewing the NODA and will be reaching out to other interested stake holders including equipment manufacturers etc., to assess the basis and validity of the DOE technical and economic NODA information and its impact on the availability of non-condensing giwh’s. BECS members are encouraged to review the NODA and provide feedback on the assumptions and the savings results that the DOE list in the NODA.

State Codes Activity Update.

Attached is a weekly feature of the “Friday Update” covering state code calendar activities as presented by the online utility “Fiscal Note,” which is sponsored by APGA and AGA Code and Standards. Please review the update and determine if there are state code activities that impact your service territory or organization.

2024 BECS Committee Meeting Schedule

Date Change September 25-26, 2024 San Antonio, Texas, Hotel TBD